School Nurse

Hamilton County Department of Education; Chattanooga (TN); On-site; USD 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hamilton County Department of Education in Chattanooga, TN, is seeking a School Nurse to promote health and provide medical assistance to students. This role involves collaboration with educators and families to ensure student health.

The ideal candidate will be a Registered Nurse with experience in pediatric or school environments, and must have valid CPR and First Aid certifications. Responsibilities include dispensing medications, health education, and maintaining medical records.

Qualifications

• Must possess and maintain licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in Tennessee.
• Experience in nursing, preferably in a school or public health environment.
• Valid CPR and First Aid certification required.

Responsibilities

• Provide healthcare to students in a school setting.
• Dispense medications and maintain medical records.
• Coordinate referrals to outside health services.
• Participate in health education for students and families.

Skills

Communication skills

Nursing skills

Computer proficiency

Education

High school diploma or GED

Four-year degree in Nursing (preferred)

Job description

Overview

Hamilton County Schools, located in Chattanooga, TN, is working to ensure that all students thrive and experience a future without limits. We are committed to excellence for every student and are seeking outstanding leaders, teachers, support staff, and district employees who desire to make a difference in the lives of students. With nearly 75 schools, we are confident that you can find your place in Hamilton County.

The purpose of this job is to serve in a lead capacity in the promotion of health care and provision of medical assistance to students and staff of county schools.

Location: Red Bank Middle School (Grades 6‑8, Chattanooga, TN).

The hourly rate for HCS School Nurses is based on both level of education and years of relative experience as a nurse.

Responsibilities

• Acts in a professional, respectful, and welcoming manner at all times.
• Creates a customer‑focused climate and provides quality services and support to school and other stakeholders.
• Complies with applicable district, state and federal codes, laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
• Enhances the education process by maximizing the health and well‑being of school‑aged children and adolescents, focusing on prevention of illness/disability and early detection/correction of health problems.
• Provides direction, guidance, training and assistance to employees; troubleshoots and works to resolve problem situations; responds to employee problems/concerns.
• Dispenses approved and/or prescribed medications appropriately to students and maintains appropriate medical records regarding all medication dispensation.
• Develops and implements protocols and procedures for responding to student illness and injuries, including special intervention for occurrences of acute illness, severe injury, emotional disturbance and communicable diseases.
• Ensures compliance with established school health guidelines, safety and infection control procedures and all other applicable laws, rules, regulations, standards, practices, policies and procedures; initiates any actions necessary to correct deviations or violations; follows safety procedures, utilizes safety equipment, and monitors the work environment to ensure safety of students, employees and other individuals.
• Provides routine and emergency medical care to students within the prescribed boundaries of training, certification and applicable policies and procedures.
• Promotes and protects the optimal health status of students; works with well children and children with acute/chronic illnesses, injuries, handicapping conditions and developmental disabilities. Works with students to promote wellness.
• Observes students for developmental and health patterns during routine assessments and provides an initial diagnosis; identifies adverse health findings; interprets the health status of students to parents and school personnel; initiates referrals to parents, school personnel and community health resources for intervention, remediation and follow‑through.
• Assists in the control of communicable diseases through audits of immunization records, early detection, surveillance, reporting of contagious diseases to appropriate persons/agencies and proper disinfection.
• Coordinates referrals to outside health services.
• Participates directly and indirectly in health education for improvement of health by teaching persons to become more assertive health consumers and assume greater responsibility for their own health.
• Provides ongoing health counseling to students, parents and school personnel; maintains, evaluates and interprets cumulative health data to accommodate individual needs of students; participates in home visits to assess the family’s needs as related to the child’s health; provides direct health education and health counseling to assist students and families in making decisions on health and lifestyles that affect health.
• Provides instruction or recommendations regarding OSHA, CPR and other health‑related needs.
• Monitors inventory of department equipment and supplies; ensures availability of adequate materials to conduct work activities.
• Participates as health team specialist on the Assessment Team and/or IEP‑Team for students with health disabilities.
• Supervises clinical observations/experience for nursing students.
• Communicates with supervisor, employees, other departments, school officials, school faculty/staff, students, parents, physicians, pharmacists, other medical/nursing professionals, social service agency personnel, health department personnel, community organizations, vendors, the public, state/federal agencies, outside organizations and other individuals as needed to coordinate work activities, review status of work, exchange information or resolve problems.
• Maintains current license as an RN after employment. Failure to maintain required District and State credentials may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment with HCDE.
• Communicates through the proper channels to keep supervisor and other appropriate personnel informed of impending problems or events of unusual nature.
• Follows established procedures for ensuring assigned areas are safe.
• Works collaboratively with school staff, students, parents and other stakeholders.
• Attends work and arrives to work on time.
• Maintains confidentiality.
• Adheres to the Teacher Code of Ethics as defined by Tennessee Law.
• Operates a computer and other school office equipment to enter, retrieve, review or modify data.
• Operates a variety of equipment and instruments associated with school health work activities.
• May operate a motor vehicle to travel to various schools.
• Performs general/clerical tasks, which may include answering telephone calls, typing documents, making copies, sending/receiving faxes, filing documentation or processing incoming/outgoing mail.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

High school diploma or GED required. Four‑year degree with coursework emphasis in Nursing preferred, supplemented by three (3) years previous experience and/or training involving nursing, preferably in a school, pediatric, adolescent or public health environment, or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities for this job. Must possess and maintain licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in Tennessee. Must possess and maintain valid CPR and First Aid certification.

Skills

• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal effectively with students, educators, employees, community members, parents and other stakeholders.
• Must possess and maintain a valid Tennessee nursing license or a compact state license.
• Ability to utilize a computer and other technology in order to enter and retrieve data.

Compensation

Salary is based on a combination of relevant education and experience.

Grade F‑H Salary Scale.